


on jail cells, campsites, and family

by dyoxyys



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Established Relationship, Family Reunions, M/M, Minor Injuries Mentioned, Post-Episode: s03e10-11 The Day of Black Sun, Spans from Black Sun to the end of the series basically, basically just an introspective, implied post traumatic stress disorder, like its sad sometimes but its happy also, this isnt angst i promise, this isnt really a ship fic btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:01:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24599443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyoxyys/pseuds/dyoxyys
Summary: They really weren’t supposed to get separated again. Bato hadswornthey wouldn’t get separated again, he had fuckingpromised. But that’s not how war works and pretending otherwise is naivety, they both knew that.
Relationships: Bato/Hakoda (Avatar)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 185





	on jail cells, campsites, and family

**Author's Note:**

> listen i always say i don't write fics but then I get bored and pick a character who doesn't get nearly enough attention and i write a mediocre oneshot and that's my only character trait  
> anyways enjoy :-)

They really weren’t supposed to get separated again. Bato had  _ sworn _ they wouldn’t get separated again, he had fucking  _ promised _ . But that’s not how war works and pretending otherwise is naivety, they both knew that. 

The Day of the Black Sun couldn’t have gone worse, really, but at least when they were pulled away by Fire Nation soldiers (roughly, too roughly, he could hear how Bato’s breathing strained when the soldiers yanked his arm-), they were thrown in a cell together. All of Hakoda’s fleet was in one cell, but Hakoda couldn’t bring himself to meet any of their eyes. 

Well, any eyes except Bato’s. 

They were getting old, that was clear. The younger warriors had their hands around the bars and were cussing like the sailors they were, but Bato and Hakoda were sitting on the ground, exhausted. 

“That… could’ve gone better,” Bato grumbled. Hakoda chuckled morbidly and grabbed his partner’s hand to ground them both and to remind himself that Bato was still there, they had survived another battle together.

“I’m a shit father, Bato. What kind of father lets his children run off to save the world while he’s just sitting in a jail cell?” He knew his kids were capable. He knew Katara had mastered her element, he knew Sokka was wise beyond his years, he knew they were traveling with the Avatar and the most capable earthbender he’s ever met, but still, he could’ve done more, right? He should’ve done more.

Bato rolled his eyes and knocked his shoulder against Hakoda’s. Hakoda always sat on Bato’s right side, and Bato always seemed to take advantage of that by bullying him. “You’re stupid,” his best friend and second-in-command informed him. “You’re a fucking idiot, do you know that? You’re the best father Katara and Sokka could ask for, you know that as well as I do. How’s your leg?” 

“And here I thought I was doing a good job at hiding it,” Hakoda muttered. He didn’t, really. He had never done a good job of hiding anything from Bato. “I’ll be fine, it’ll heal.” 

They had kept talking, eventually shifting to light banter to keep from dwelling on their failure, until they both fell asleep, Hakoda’s head comfortably rested on Bato’s shoulder. 

The next week was a blur of firebenders trying to interrogate him, his crew, and the makeshift army he had assembled. 

“Who’s your leader?”

“Where did the Avatar go?”

“Why shouldn’t we kill you?”

Normal questions. It was understood that every question was to be answered with “I don’t know,” unless there is an immediate threat of harm. 

It didn’t take long for Hakoda to be singled out as the leader. In any other situation, Hakoda would’ve loved being recognized as the one with the most authority and poise. It made him feel less like an imposter in his chief clothing when strangers looked at his crew and knew he was the one in charge. As he was being pulled harshly from the jail cell and cuffed behind his back, he was confident this instance of recognition wasn’t going to be followed by respect.

Bato had sworn they wouldn’t be separated again, and he stupidly believed him.

He kept stupidly believing him until he was shoved onto a tiny little gondola and sent across the sea to a prison that even the guards on the gondola seemed uneasy at the idea of. He was just glad his leg had actually managed to heal in time (in no small part thanks to Katara’s magic water). 

No one ever told him that Chief’s Perks include a special one way trip to a secluded island.

Of course, he didn’t stay in that prison for long. Sokka, a girl, and the crown prince of the goddamn Fire Nation were already there to break him out. Almost as rapidly as he had been thrown into the Boiling Rock, he was on his way out. 

He was happy to see his kids again, he really was. He was ecstatic to see they were safe (even if the fucking prince of the fucking Fire Nation was apparently their friend now?) and he was ecstatic to see they were all together still. 

But he felt empty inside. 

He couldn’t sleep because every time he closed his eyes and laid down on the soft fur allotted to him, he pictured Bato and the rest of his crew sleeping on the cold hard floor of the jail cell. He couldn’t keep food down because he could still clearly remember the daily loaf of bread and bowl of rice his entire crew had to share because there was somehow there only enough food for one meal per cell. He couldn’t watch the Fire Nation prince teaching the Avatar firebending because every time he saw their twin flames whip the air, he saw Bato’s skin being melted by flames exactly like those. 

He was almost glad, in a way, when the airships attacked and they had to split up again. Watching his kids leave always felt like losing a limb, and it killed him to be there alone without any of his family, but at least he wouldn’t walk out of his tent and see fire lighting up the air every morning. He still couldn’t sleep or eat and without his kids watching him at all times he didn’t even bother to pretend like he’s doing fine, but at least the fire was gone. 

Camping underground was worse than camping in the old temple. The only fresh air he was supposed to get was when he and some of the older kids went up to spear fish or fetch water, but he found himself sitting on a rock many nights waiting for a messenger hawk with any news. He told himself he would be okay with any sort of news, anything to make him feel less useless, but he knew that bad news would only make this awful feeling worse.

Four weeks and two days after his kids had left him again, a comet crossed the sky. Hakoda didn’t see it. It would’ve been stupid for any of them to go above ground and risk being seen by a firebender during Sozin’s Comet, even Hakoda knew that. If their position was compromised in any way, none of them would survive. It was a horrifying thought, but it was more than enough to keep him underground that day. 

He heard nothing for two days after the comet. He didn’t have time to worry, though, he was surrounded by children who were clearly terrified that their world aboveground was on fire and would always be on fire. They couldn’t go outside and check, it was still too risky. The only opening was a small hole so they could listen for anything.

Finally,  _ finally _ , on day three, the ground shook and a massive animal lowed above them. Their roof was opening up and Suki and Toph were peering down at them. 

“Where’s everyone else?” Hakoda heard a voice ask. It might’ve been his own, he didn’t know. His brain was screaming  _ Where are my children  _ and that made it hard to focus on inconsequential things like if he was speaking or not. 

“They’re at the palace. Katara and Sokka wanted to come, they begged to come, but they were needed there. There are injuries for her to tend to,” Suki replied. She didn’t say Sokka was one of those injuries, but Hakoda could hear it in her voice.

Hakoda’s mind was working too fast to think right. They’re alive, they’re at the palace, they  _ won _ . No one was saying it out loud because it felt delicate, scary, but the air felt clear and the girls looked too happy for anything else to have happened. They had won, the war was over. Hakoda felt frozen in place.

Toph didn’t have the patience to wait for everyone to process the news. “We were told to get you all to the palace as fast as possible, and Appa won’t be flying fast with all of you on his back, so we need to get going soon.” 

Hakoda snapped back into himself and launched into action, helping kids onto the back of the giant sky bison. Before he knew it, Appa was touching down in the Fire Nation palace courtyard, and everyone was piling off, and-

There, ready to greet him, were his children and his  _ Bato _ . Sokka was limping, Katara looked horribly exhausted, and Bato's lower left arm was bandaged again, but they were alive and in front of him. The tension that had been gripping his heart for the last month and a half instantly dissipated when his arms wrapped around his little family. His crew was all there, too, looking much better fed than they had when he was ripped away from them. 

Every member of his army from the failed raid had their own bedroom in the palace, he was told. A brief and silent conversation with Bato over his children’s heads told him that the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe would have to share with his second-in-command, not that he minded at all. 

It took three days and a lot of moving plans to be able to sit down for a lunch with Katara, Sokka, and Bato without other people crowding them and making conversation impossible. He told the kids what they already knew (he and Bato hadn’t really been that subtle about holding hands during treaty meetings, apparently), and he felt calm. For the first time in almost seven years, he felt completely calm and happy. 

The war was over, his children were with him, and Bato was making good on his promise to never leave his side again. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading! feel free to follow me on tumblr (also dyoxyys) :-)


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